Why include Snapchat in your digital marketing strategy?

Snapchat has transformed the era of image-based communication. Arguably, the platform acts as a modern, digital and free version of a postcard. A postcard typically contains a memorable image, along with a handwritten note, and is sent between long-distance recipients. Snapchat aims to allow users to quickly snap photos of people, places or events and send them immediately to their chosen recipient.

The features offered by this platform serve many companies to connect with their customers. This unique format offers the possibility of creating original content that captivates the user and generates interest in your product or service, thus generating a direct connection with the brand. The boom in the consumption of short videos as opposed to the old formats favors the use of this application by both brands and users.

Whether you're looking to generate awareness, increase website visits, drive app downloads or boost sales, you shouldn't pass up the opportunity to include Snapchat in your digital marketing strategy.

Who is Snapchat's audience?

On average, 293 million people use Snapchat every day and daily usage time is 30 minutes. In fact, in the US, 75% of Generation Z and Millennials use Snapchat.

These demographics outspent previous generations and also contribute to household spending. A large portion of Snapchat users are likely to purchase products and services they encounter through Snapchat ads.

These young Millennials and Generation Z are the new consumer and are more powerful and unique than most realise.

The Snapchat Generation prefers to communicate with pictures rather than words. And many Snapchat users believe they have a personal responsibility to change the world. They are active and care about causes.

Snapchatters say that close friends are 4 times more influential than celebrities or influencers in their purchasing decisions. Friends matter more than anyone else. In order to keep its users' conversations private, Snapchat offers an option within settings to automatically delete chats once the recipient has read the message, a feature that tends to appeal heavily to the millennial and z generations. 

Benefits of using Snapchat in your business 

1) Reach a specific audience

As we have seen above, the main audience for this app is the 15-25 age group. That is why introducing Snapchat in your company's marketing strategy will favor direct communication with this audience. If the target of your product or service includes this age group, Snapchat will become a very powerful tool with a great capacity to increase your brand's engagement.

2) Use Snapchat to showcase your brand

Snapchat offers a wealth of creative options to create custom ads for your brand. Get creative and tailor your advertising to your brand identity.

3) Use Snapchat as a channel for your website

Use the platform to redirect users to your website or app. Snapchat offers the possibility to include direct links to your platforms through ad content.

4) Generate content for your events

If your brand holds events, you can use Snapchat to promote them and promote your brand image. The app has many creative options that allow you to personalise your content and invite users to join your community.

What are Snapchat Ads and why include them in your digital marketing strategy?

Snapchat has developed its own advertising solution, Snapchat Ads. The app allows you to launch mobile ad campaigns and monitor their performance, optimising the objectives of your digital marketing strategy. 

If you want to reach a wider audience through Snapchat, don't hesitate to introduce Snapchat Ads into your brand's marketing strategy. 

Snapchat Ads are 10-second vertical video ads that appear in the "Stories" section of the app. The wide variety of creative on offer allows you to promote your product and generate visits to your website.

Snapchat ads are designed for businesses of all sizes and goals and can help you reach your target audience and meet your advertising goals. Are you an e-commerce business? Drive online sales or other actions on your website. Are you a game or app developer? Increase downloads and re-engage users. Are you a local business? Drive traffic to your physical shop with geo-targeted audiences.

Find out how we converted SikSilk's audience into buyers and increased average ticket by 54% and ROAS by up to 57% (compared to other platforms) thanks to our Dynamic Ads strategy on Snapchat. 

Dynamic ads are an easy way to personalise ads for your customers and significantly increase the ROAS of your campaigns. To run dynamic ads, you need to upload a product catalogue or feed and connect the Snapchat pixel. 

The Snap Pixel is a code that tracks the actions Snapchatters take on your website, measuring the impact of your campaigns and re-engaging users interested in your products or services.

By leveraging the product catalogue and Snapchat pixel, we can automate the creation of ads while optimising the most important actions for your brand, such as driving online purchases. 

But let's start at the beginning. Where do you want to focus your Snapchat campaign and what is your goal?

Which target to choose for your Snapchat Ads campaign?

The first thing you will need before advertising on Snapchat is a personal account. Use your personal account username and password to create a business account by logging into Snapchat Ads Manager.

The first essential step to getting the most out of Snapchat Ads is to determine the objective of the campaign you are launching.

• Awareness: If you are looking to generate awareness about your business, brand, application or product. This objective will allow you to create brand awareness, show your ads to potential customers or your new products/services to existing or potential customers.

• Consideration: If your goal is to drive consideration, encourage users to learn more about your products or services. Choose from increasing app installs, website traffic, engagement with your brand, generating video views or lead generation.

• Conversions: If your goal is to drive conversions, drive users to take specific actions on your website or in your app. It is also your goal if you want to drive catalogue sales. Don't forget that for this goal you need a Snap Pixel or Snapchat pixel.

Once you've chosen your target, it's time to see what Snapchat Ads formats are available.

What Snapchat Ads formats can you incorporate into your strategy?

Snapchat ads allow you to engage with your users in an organic and non-invasive way allowing your strategy to achieve meaningful results. There are 6 types of ads:

• Single Image and Snapchat Video Ads: This is a full-screen format available for multiple targets. They allow for immediate impact, leading Snapchat users to swipe up and take an action.
• Collection Ads: Allows multiple products to be displayed in a single ad. A mosaic with four images appears at the bottom of the ad, offering navigation to Snapchatters.
• AR Lenses Experiences: Create interactive moments with augmented reality experiences.
• Story Ads: Appear in the Discover section. You can include a series of 3 to 20 ads in Single Image or Video Ads format and allow you to generate buzz about your brand.
• Commercials: These ads cannot be skipped for six seconds and can last up to three minutes. They appear within Snap's curated content.
• Filter Ads: Part of the user conversation. They appear after taking a photo (Snap) and swiping left or right.

All of these ad formats can appear in three different places within the app: in user stories, in editorial content or in the Audience Network.

If you need more information on the specifics of each format, download our Social Media Formats guide.

In addition, Snap Ads include performance solutions with the ability to include different CTAs in the lens, as well as different live metrics to optimise each campaign and drive powerful results in each part of the conversion funnel.

Launch your Snapchat Ads campaign

Once you have chosen the objective of your Snapchat campaign, created the ad and set the target, budget and duration, it's time to launch your Snapchat Ads campaign.

Don't forget to measure the results with a marketing report. Get actionable insights to make data-driven decisions to improve your campaigns. This information will allow you to optimise and improve ad performance and maximise ROI.

Snapchat advertising is a great way to reach your target audience through a combination of short video content and images. It's also effortless, as it takes no more than three taps to share something on the app. 

Brands can take advantage of Snapchat's unique filters and add them to their snaps with just a few taps: these not only make Snapchat perfect for marketing events and promoting specific products but allow you to differentiate yourself from competitors who might be using similar filters.

No matter what your goal is, we're here to guide you and help you succeed. Snapchat is an ideal platform to create links between your brand and your consumers.

The app has managed to turn Snapchat advertising into a form of entertainment, allowing brands to impact users in a playful way. So what is the key formula for Snapchat Ads? Entertainment + virality.

Snapchatters create, participate and share in their stories any type of interactive ads and this exponentially increases engagement with your products or services.